Eclectic Epidemic
by Tempest's Rain
Summary: To be eclectic is to be able to see things from other perspectives. They are all very different people, but they have never tried to understand each other - not really. At least, not until circumstances force them to see each other's perspectives and view their actions and motivations in a new light. Sometimes you've got to lose yourself and go by instinct in order to find others.


Sirius stepped over the threshold that led into Cygnus and Druella's house and restrained an automatic shiver as he felt the oppressive darkness of a high quantity of Dark artefacts wash over him. He was the last of his 'family' to enter the house and, used to this, he didn't startle when heard the heavy door close behind him ominously.

Sirius merely sighed as he watched his mother and father step forward to greet his uncle and aunt, Regulus dutifully following behind them while he just stood there, not bothering to hide his distaste for the entire situation. Used to his many different brands of disobedience by now, both sets of Black adults ignored him rather than try to bring him to heel since they knew it was relatively harmless compared to what had done in the past to show his displeasure, and what he could do now.

Although, Sirius was somewhat amused to note Walburga stiffen slightly at his sigh, a clear indicator that he had gotten to his mother after all. Well, the hag deserved it after springing what was sure to be a _delightful _compulsory family gathering with his inbred cousins and their parents - who were almost as depraved as his own - on him less than a day after he'd returned from Hogwarts. Honestly, he didn't know why he couldn't be excused. If there was one thing that he and his family agreed on it was that everyone would be much happier if he could stay as far away as possible from them.

He'd had such a good year too. Sirius was one of the few people in their age group who hadn't agonised over their performance in their O.W.L.s, and he knew that he'd likely be getting O's for the majority of the exams, and not anything below an E. He'd pulled off a number of successful pranks with his friends that had left the student population in tears of laughter - or misery, if the intent was retribution for a serious offence (Mulciber would think twice before picking on the Gryffindor first years). It had also been a good year for his hormones, as Sirius had a good time making out with various attractive and horny teens in broom closets. He'd even been able to find a guy from Hufflepuff who was into him and wasn't worried about being caught by idiots who'd label them as poofs and come after them for being 'unnatural'.

(He still hadn't told the others about that yet. Not even James.)

But by far the best part of the year had been in the middle of first term when he'd transformed into his animagus form for the first time. He, James and Peter had been working at it since third year, intent on doing anything they could to make things easier for Remus during his forced, torturous transformations, and despite the many frustrating failed attempts at collecting the ingredients for the Animagus potion, they had kept at it until, in the midst of one fateful lightning storm, the three had drank the potion and each successfully transformed.

If Sirius had had any doubts about the strength of his friendship with the other boys (which he hadn't) then they had been instantly washed away that first full moon when they had accompanied Remus and spent the night running around together. But even then, Sirius would be lying if he said he _hadn't _felt some deeper, instinctive bond solidify between the Marauders that night. The word 'pack' sprang to mind whenever he thought about it, and he knew that the others felt the same, even if they hadn't said it out loud.

They didn't really need to, Sirius supposed. He's always believed that actions spoke louder than words, and he figured that you couldn't really be more blaring about how much you value your friendship than spending two years brewing a fatally dangerous and very illegal potion under the noses of the teachers in order to run around a rundown old shack with a werewolf every full moon. He wondered what it said about them that had had no qualms about doing so when they'd discovered the consequences of Remus transforming alone. Probably that they were stupid, brave idiots, and Sirius found himself embracing his self-designated title wholeheartedly.

The Marauders: Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs. Yeah, they were easily the best and brightest part of Sirius' life, and Sirius knew that he'd happily be a stupid, brave idiot for any of his three best friends, if they ever needed him to be.

It was something he knew that his family, with all their pure-blood etiquette and sharp cruelty would never understand, as all they ever did was use each other to prop themselves up. Instead of affection and love, the Blacks had allies and legacy. With a pang, Sirius found himself once again missing Andromeda. He hadn't seen his favourite cousin since the family Christmas gathering the year before he'd started Hogwarts, but he was glad that at least one of them was free of inbred lunatics they shared DNA with.

Andy was different from the rest of the family too, but not in the same way Sirius was. She was proof that not all Slytherins were evil, bigoted gits, but even so, she still embodied many of the traits that the snakes prided themselves in. She was quieter, softer and far more refined than Sirius would ever be. She was always poised and tactful, keeping her true opinions closer to her vest in a way that was probably smarter than Sirius, who wasn't afraid to blurt out his ideals, even though it was a constant source of pain in his house. Andy also, unlike Sirius, followed a lot of the old customs that she'd been taught and believed in them, however, she always displayed a naturally neutral countenance that would warm, showing kindness and a fine sense of humour the longer you talked to her, and was about as unprejudiced as a pure-blood could get.

She rebelled against her family and the elitist social norms that many of the pure-blood families cherished in different ways to Sirius, too. He would readily admit that Andromeda's patience far outstripped his, as did her subtlety and willingness to play the game by other's rules to a certain extent. Andy following her heart to marry the man she loved (a muggleborn Hufflepuff named Ted Tonks) had said more than words were capable of, after all. As far as making a dignified escape from a world of bigotry, inbreeding and pure-blood mania went, Sirius figured it was hard to get more sophisticated than that. He just hoped that one day soon he'd get to meet the man who'd been worth all the conflict and vitriol that he knew Andy had received from the family, and their little daughter, Nymphadora.

"Sirius!" The shrilly whispered command from Walburga had Sirius sighing once more and rolling his eyes for good measure, before stepping further into the room so he could 'greet' his relatives. He reluctantly ambled over and presented himself to Cygnus and Druella, barely refraining from giving them his most irritating and smug smirk, which he knew annoyed his stuck-up family endlessly. He wasn't quite able to hold himself back from raising an eyebrow cockily though.

Druella Black was quite like Walburga in most things. She was a cold, pure-blood bitch that the Rosiers had had married off to gravitate closer to the prestige of the 'Most Noble and Ancient House of Black'. She was all sharp, sneering features and bigoted values, and she had a cruelty that matched Walburga's, however she was generally more put together than his mother. Like the majority of his family, she was easy to anger, but she was more likely to respond to logic than them. Right then, Sirius watched her automatic response to his subordinance, which was her lips turning down even further in displeasure.

Cygnus Black, on the other hand, was his uncle by blood through his father, and the similarities between them were easy to see. He had the same aristocratic facial structure as Orion; pale skin, raven hair, grey eyes and a superior, snobbish expression. However, unlike his father, Sirius' uncle also looked sickly, sweated easily and was prone to the occasion twitch in his body. This was the result of a particularly nasty curse that had been given to him some years back, and it was an open family secret that it had driven him to alcoholism. Cygnus had the family temper and about as much patience for Sirius' 'antics' as his own parents. He adopted a heavy scowl as soon as Sirius stood before him.

"Your cousins are in the main drawing room," Cygnus deigned to address him after a moment. Sirius was, of _course_, honoured. "The Lestranges are here as well, so be sure to conduct yourself appropriately. Neither my brother and his wife nor I and Druella will tolerate you causing any trouble."

"Of course not," Sirius replied in a parody of sincerity. He walked straight past them and didn't turn around to call back, "Perish the thought!"

Making his way to the drawing room, Sirius gave a small smile as he heard Druella and Walburga complain about him in disgusted tones before beginning to follow him, Regulus sill trailing along after them like a good little mutt. At the door to the drawing room Sirius gave one last exhausted sigh before preparing himself for a few days in the isolated company of some of his least favourite people in the family he so despised. He could do this; he only had to last a few hours before making some excuse about being tired and leaving for the room that would be set aside for him.

He could last that long without saying something that would cause him grievous bodily harm.

He could do this.

~~Sirius~~

Sirius came to on the floor with a splitting headache and the familiar taste of blood filling his mouth.

It took him a moment to remember where he was and what had happened, due to his disoriented state, before his head cleared enough for him to recognise his surroundings as the hall just outside Cygnus' study. He chuckled in wry amusement at the realisation that whatever he'd done must have _really _offended them if they had resorted to punishing him in the hall, but he immediately regretted it when searing pain exploded across the back of his skull and his vision went dark for a few moments.

After somewhat recovering, Sirius gently felt around the back of his head until he felt it sting and pulling his hand away he saw, as he had expected, that it was covered in blood. He grimaced as he realised that he probably had a concussion and since he couldn't remember receiving the wound, it had probably been the one that had knocked him out. Still looking down at his bloodied fingertips, Sirius noted in vague surprise that they were still spasming from the Cruciatus Orion had put him under. He distantly hoped that wore off soon.

Suddenly tired, and feeling himself becoming more vacant with every moment, Sirius allowed himself to slump back in the hall. If he tried, he doubted that he'd be able to walk ten feet, let alone make it up the stairs to his room to treat his wounds. A part of him that wasn't drifting decided to simply stay still until he was both lucid and steady enough to make the trek.

Sixty years later (or maybe it was sixty seconds, but Sirius wasn't entirely sure) his mind was partially drawn out of its daze by the sounds of two familiar voices arguing in the study he was just outside of. Sitting on the ground, he tried to pay attention and was rewarded with the words floating into his mind, although he was having trouble understanding them in his state.

"…I heard… rumour… you have been visiting… mudblood… works at that law firm!" Cygnus, Sirius was able to identify after a moment's confusion. He sounded both drunk and mad which was rather alarming.

"Aaron has nothing to do with this!" Narcissa. Cissy. Her voice was easier to distinguish, although Sirius reflected that he'd never heard her sound so… anything other than perfectly poised.

"No?!" Cygnus yelled, becoming easier for Sirius to understand even though it did no favours for what was definitely a concussion, "You want to refuse Malfoy's proposal and you want me to think that you visiting that mudblood filth is a coincidence!?"

"…I love him."

_Slap!_

Sirius felt a part of himself that was all protective instinct wake up at the sound of a hand hitting flesh. He began trying to pull himself up, the gasp of pain and shock Cissy gave ringing through his ears. He wasn't particularly fond of the woman – she had always been a good little obedient pure-blood who did as she was told while she was being groomed to be the perfect little pure-blood wife to some poncy, pure-blood prick with values that began with pure-blood supremacy and ended with money – but Sirius had never hated her. He had memories of her, from when they were younger and in those she had always been quiet and patient. They had been friends once upon a time. He had cared for her, and it was that part of Sirius that was reacting now to the sounds of her pain. Just like a part of him would always react to the sound of Regulus' (despite him being a little shit who lived up their parents' arses).

"…But even if I didn't – even if I'd never met Aaron – I still would not want to marry Lucius," Cissy continued bravely after a pause.

"You think I care what you _want_, Narcissa!?" Cygnus exploded, "You think that I wanted to have only daughters!? What good are girls to my legacy when they are unable to carry it under the Black name!? The only use you are to the family is building connections!"

"Well some things are more important than my being _useful_ to the family," Cissy snapped back.

Cygnus growled in rage, "You will do as you are told, girl. I'll not have another daughter shame me by running off with a mudblood!"

"I'll not be forced by you into a loveless marriage for the sake of convenience," Cissy re-joined.

There was a dark chuckle, "Oh, yes you will if you want that mudblood filth to make it through the week."

"…You wouldn't."

"Oh really? You think that I wouldn't be willing to see to it that that mudblood ends up dead? You are very much mistaken, Cissy."

"…You're despicable. Andy was right."

"Don't say her name!" Cygnus yelled in a rage, "Do not talk of that _blood_ _traitor_ in this house!"

"You say that like it means something, but she followed her truth and now she lives a happy life with a man she loves and a daughter she dotes on! I'd rather live that life than one of fake love and forced compliance. I'd rather be a blood traitor than be unfaithful to myself!"

"Don't-!"

"But even if you manage to force me into this marriage," Cissy continued recklessly, a dark humour coating her voice, "I'll at least be able to console myself with the knowledge that Lucius won't be able to claim my virginity."

There was silence for a moment, where Sirius could practically hear the fury building within Cygnus at _that _proclamation, before it finally bubbled over.

"You whore! You wretched disgrace! You gave yourself to the mudblood!?" Cygnus was beyond angry. Sirius had never heard him sound so wrathful, and it gave him the extra drive he needed to push himself towards the door, determined to protect Cissy. He knocked it open just in time to see his uncle roughly shove his cousin into a bookshelf in a mixture of rage and disgust. Cissy cried out as she crashed into it, falling to the ground while Cygnus began to move menacingly towards her again.

"Get away from her!" Sirius shouted, and both Cygnus and Cissy looked at him in surprise, Cygnus angry and Cissy… Sirius couldn't read the complex emotion in Cissy's expression.

"Get out of here, nephew," Cygnus was the first to speak, his rage apparent in his voice and his eyes bloodshot from fire whiskey. "This is a matter between me and my daughter."

Sirius, despite his throbbing headwound and the weakness still pervading his body from his recent brush with his family's wrath, kept his voice steady as he stood his ground, "Sorry uncle. But Cissy is coming with me, right now."

Sirius knew that in his shape, he wouldn't be much good in a fight against the Dark wizard, so he did his best to not antagonise him by making smart comments. His eyes fell naturally to Cissy's own, and he was able to pick out hints of shock, confusion, worry and suspicion in her gaze, but the rest was guarded, and this wasn't the right time for him to try and analyse anything else.

"No, no, she and I need to have a little discussion about _responsibility _and _respect_," Cygnus said, glaring at Cissy in a drunken rage. "Leave, boy."

"I can't do that," Sirius replied, shaking his head and ignoring the way it made black spots dance in front of his eyes.

"You can't!?" Cygnus spun around, eyes blazing. This was getting dangerous – it was unlikely that they'd be able to get out of here without him snapping, and in his drunk, furious state, he was liable to end up killing either Cissy or himself - or both - in his anger. "You can't _what_, boy!? This is my house! My word is law and you, _both of you, _will obey me!"

At the end of the hoarse rant, he turned back to his daughter and made to grab her again. Sirius immediately reacted, stepping forward and, hearing Cissy's breath hitch in fear, he flew across the room, grabbed his Cygnus' shoulder and pulled him back away from his cousin. His uncle turned faster than Sirius was expecting and flung him away with an angry roar. Sirius stumbled back a few steps, but before he was able to do anything he heard the shout of a familiar, dreaded curse and felt his entire abused body light up with _pain, pain, pain._

He writhed and twisted on the floor for a good seven seconds, biting his already-bleeding tongue to stop himself from screaming, before the Cruciatus abruptly cut off.

"Leave him alone!" Sirius heard Cissy snarl, and he guessed that she must have been the one to break off the curse. He tried to stand on his trembling legs, to go and help her as he knew that she wouldn't be able to hold him off for long while he had the advantage, but he found himself collapsing almost immediately.

"Leave him alone?" Cygnus gave a mad laugh that set off all Sirius' alarms, "You want some too, do you, daughter? _Crucio!"_

The spell didn't last long, barely even two seconds, but the terrible, high-pitched scream that Cissy somehow managed to choke off that pierced the air was enough. Some deep, instinctual part inside Sirius _howled_ in rage at the injustice. A protective fury erupted within him with the _need _to end this, and his body and magic responded instantly. He didn't even _try_ to stop himself from shifting into the form that had earned him the name Padfoot, and a second later there was large, vicious-looking dog the size of a small bear standing in the study, much to the surprise and fear of the other two people present.

Using the surprise to his advantage, Padfoot leaped at Cygnus, determined to get him away from Cissy. He managed to knock him back into a shelf, but the man soon recovered from his fearful surprise and shot a _diffindo _at him which sliced through the top of his shoulder. Sirius didn't even pause at the wound, being used to much worse, but the next curse shot was a _stupefy _which blasted him back, and before he could regain his feet he was once again engulfed by pain.

(He really hated that stupid spell.)

Sirius, already weakened and with injuries that had carried over into his canine form, couldn't see or hear or feel anything outside the Cruciatus. He was unable to discern the crackle of the spell and the ringing in his ears from the screams that either Cissy or his own mind would be making. He might have even thought that they were his own, if he hadn't known that Padfoot was physically incapable of making sounds like that.

After a long time, the pain eventually tapered off, but Sirius was unable to move, collapsed in a shocky heap on the floor. Doggedly lifting his eyes in search of the cousin he was trying to protect, he found her sprawled across the room, unconscious and with a darkening bruise on her temple that said Cygnus must have hit her when she tried to interrupt his curse. Sirius tried to get up, to go to her, but his front legs were shaking violently, and he found himself stumbling.

The smell and sound of laboured, drunken breaths coming closer had Sirius halting in his movements in favour of snarling. He might not have full control of his legs at the moment, but he had a powerful jaw, and if Cygnus gave him the opportunity…

The man in question appeared in his line of sight, having disappeared behind his desk at some point while Sirius had been trying to recover. He returned now, carrying a vicious, tight-looking, dark leather muzzle, with ugly metal studs, but even though Sirius had a fair idea of what Cygnus was planning on doing with that, it was the second item, reeking of Dark magic, that caused him to really panic. It was a smooth, neat, black collar, and while it seemed quite tame compared to the horrid muzzle, Sirius instantly recognised it for what it was.

He and James had broken into the restricted section of the Hogwarts library in their fourth year in order to find as much as they could out about animagi, and Sirius remembered coming across this particular device in _Dark Artefacts & Human Transformations. _The recrudesce collar worked to bind the cognition of any creature or human who wore it; reverting them back to their base instincts. It had originally been designed for use on magical animal guardians; to eliminate the parts of the creatures that contained purpose and turn them back into the animals that they had originally been, which had limited success as sometimes the guardian turned out to be more dangerous without its complete sentience than with it. It was highly illegal and very rare, and although Sirius hadn't known that the Blacks owned one, he found he wasn't at all surprised.

Knowing what that was and what it could do to him, Sirius would have shifted back to his human form and gone from there. But, as it was, barely half a second had passed after he'd recognised the collar, before he heard the incantation for the Cruciatus once more and he spent a few seconds writhing in agony again, before the curse dropped and he collapsed, limbs twitching from the nerve abuse.

"Got you now, you little bastard," he vaguely heard Cygnus mutter while he felt the leather muzzle slide over his jaws, binding his mouth shut tightly. Sirius tried to pull away, but his uncle smacked him hard on the back of the head, reigniting the pain from his head wound and dazing him for the moment, giving Cygnus enough time to properly fasten the muzzle. Sirius recovered quickly, however, and in his panic to not lose himself to the recrudesce collar he managed to find resistance to fight and jerk against his uncle. But despite Cygnus' drunkenness and the natural strength Sirius possessed, in his severely injured and weakened state he was no match against the Dark wizard, not when he had the advantage.

"…Sirius…" the soft, dazed murmur Cissy gave as she re-entered consciousness a few feet from him had Sirius' eyes snapping to her rapidly widening ones, even as he continued to struggle. He continued to stare at her, even as Cygnus finally managed to slip the collar over his head, a feat made much easier thanks to the muzzle since he no longer had to contend with Sirius' jaws. He felt the thing magically resizing around his neck, until it was too tight for him to get off.

But worse was what began happening to his mind.

He felt himself – his thoughts, memories, concepts, _everything _– begin slipping away and retreating into a mess of fog somewhere in his mind, faster than he could remember what it was he was forgetting. Everything was confusing and things were missing and he was in control but not all of him and was it still him if it wasn't all of him an what couldn't he remember and what was he missing and-

Who was he?

A second later and that question didn't even matter to what was left within him.

The last thing Sirius saw before he was lost to a mess of confusion, fog, barricades and _instinct, _was the worried grey gaze of familiar eyes.

~~He~~

He was confused. Angry. Fearful. Injured. Restricted.

He wanted to snap and bite at the male human (man) in front of him and he knew that it was _right, _but he couldn't move his jaws. The smell of leather and iron filled his nose, and not much else. His whole body was strained and aching and trembling in a way not unfamiliar, his shoulder was pained and stinging, and his head was hurt.

There was a female human (woman) before him. Blonde, pale, adult. Scared, hurt. _(Protect, defend, save, avenge.)_

She was sprawled on the ground, but he could see she was prepared to be desperate and leap and fight the man. The man smelled of death and disorientation and aggression and anger. He knew that the man wanted to hurt him and that he wanted to hurt the woman. He knew he shouldn't let either happen. He knew he couldn't let either happen. He didn't want either to happen.

He looked into the woman's grey eyes. He saw her. She was confused and scared and something else, but she was also determined to win against the man. He would protect her and defend her and save her and avenge her, but she would also be an ally and not just a victim.

He returned his focus to the man. He growled, low and deep and threatening, despite the restraint on his snout. He used the display of anger to fixate the man's attention on him while the woman slowly and softly began to rise.

"You mangy mutt," the man spoke and sneered in distracted anger.

He growled louder, audibly snarling, and tensed his body, gathering strength and pushing the weakness of the trembling limbs away.

The man pulled sharply and roughly on the restraint, choking him, but he didn't stop the display.

The woman drew a magical conductor from her clothes.

But the man turned around and saw her.

They threw purposed magic at each other.

He jumped and twisted out of the man's hold. The man exclaimed in surprise and anger. He leaped at the man and pushed him over with force. He went down easy.

The woman ran over and quickly threw purposed magic on the man, causing him to go still, but he was still alive. The woman paused.

_"Obliviate," _the tone was sure as she cast more purposed magic on the man.

The woman breathed shakily in after-fear. He watched for a moment before they both alerted again at the sound of wood slamming and heavy human footfalls.

The woman quickly dropped before him. She pulled the leather restraint off his snout. Harried. Panicked. Rushed. Alert. She spoke as she did so. Urgent.

"Sirius, I took all his memories of that encounter, but if you want to live, you need to leave right now."

The woman pulled at the other binder around his neck but was unable to remove it. She tried with her magical conductor but _"diffindo" _had no effect.

"Cygnus?" An older female voice asked. The steps got closer.

The woman's head snapped around at the voice and she nudged him away urgently.

"I can't get it off. You have to go. Now! Run now!"

The woman gestured toward the door, but he knew what she wanted him to do. He trusted her judgement and his instincts which told him to _get out, get into the open, leave._

He ran for the door and past alarmed, furious, shouts of different humans. He ran out of the room and through the hall, following his instinct, nose and direction sense.

"What is that _thing?!"_

He ignored the wounds and pain as escape was the priority for survival and he ignored the sounds of the others.

"What's going- what was that?!"

He ran until he caught sight of the different door that blocked the outside.

"Where did it go!?"

It was between him and where he needed to go. He needed to go now. Sounds of pursuit were behind him.

"Mother! What's going on!?"

He charged at the door, with all the considerable strength he possessed with a snarl.

"Rab! Did you see where it-"

The sound of a crash. The sensation of falling. The pain of worsened wounds and strain of the body.

He ran through the doorway and into the sounds and smells and feel of the outside. Escape and freedom.

He heard an angry female scream from behind as he ran away through the hot night.


End file.
